Upright vacuum cleaners of various shapes and designs have long been known in the art. Upright vacuum cleaners generally include a nozzle assembly including an intake opening, a canister assembly connected to the nozzle assembly, a suction generator for generating the negative air pressure to draw dirt and debris into the vacuum cleaner and a dirt collection vessel in the form of a bag or cup for collecting dirt for disposal.
Generally, upright vacuum cleaners are stored with the canister assembly in a vertical upright position. On many of these devices that means that the upper end of the control handle is perhaps from 1.0 to 1.4 meters above the floor. Accordingly, the handle on an upright vacuum cleaner represents a long lever arm that when bumped or inadvertently jostled tends to promote tipping of the upright vacuum cleaner backward or on its side. Since many vacuum cleaners are stored in closets when not in use long coats and other items may be drug across the handle and result in inadvertent tipping.
The present invention relates to an upright vacuum cleaner with a control handle assembly that may be displaced from an operating position to a relatively compact storage position. In effect the handle assembly folds back over the canister assembly and the tip of the handle functions as a stabilizer that will engage the ground and prevent the vacuum cleaner from tipping over backward. Accordingly, the present invention represents a significant advance in the art.